Chiquita lets Spotify users unlock music playlists, branded prizes

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Brief:

Chiquita put scannable Spotify codes on its iconic blue banana stickers to let customers hear playlists and five remixes of its original 1950s jingle, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.

The banana company also created special "Golden Banana" stickers that give fans a chance to unlock games and music-inspired prizes. The five playlists have uplifting themes such as "feel happy" with trending songs, "smile workout" with high-energy tracks, "cook and dance" for setting the mood, "classics" with past hits and "tropical vibes" that is rooted in Chiquita's heritage.

The sixth "Golden Banana" sticker unlocks a branded podcast on Spotify where consumers can hear a secret password used to gain access to a Chiquita website game. Fans can win branded prizes such as loudspeakers and subscriptions to Spotify Premium, per the announcement.

Insight:

Chiquita's collaboration with Spotify aims to engage shoppers with musical playlists as they spend more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The playlists are intended to be fun and uplifting as consumers look for brands that have a positive message amid uncertainties about the health crisis. More than a third (36%) of consumers said they want to see brand messaging that's funny or entertaining, while another (31%) are looking for optimistic and hopeful advertising, according to a survey this month by E-Poll Market Research. Chiquita's playlists, online game and prize giveaway are consistent with those themes.

Chiquita's latest campaign follows its recent "No Banana Wasted" effort that was timed with Earth Day on April 22 and highlighted its sustainability efforts. The company also has sought to engage mobile consumers with a variety of branded content in past campaigns. Last year, Chiquita worked with photo-messaging app Snapchat to celebrate World Banana Day by adding scannable Snapcodes to banana stickers. The promotion let mobile consumers unlock augmented reality (AR) experiences including a dancing banana character. Before that, Chiquita partnered with Shazam on an AR experience that promoted environmental awareness.

For Spotify, the collaboration with Chiquita is a chance to reach a broader group of consumers. Sixty-nine percent of U.S. shoppers say they buy bananas, putting them in a tie with apples as the most popular fruit, per a survey cited by The Packer. Bananas tend to be more popular among older consumers who are more likely to buy them than the 58% of shoppers ages 18 to 39 who said they bought the fruit in the prior year, though the pandemic likely has boosted consumption as people cook at home more often. The popularity of bananas means Chiquita can transform its key product into a content distribution platform that urges people to download the Spotify app.

The collaboration with Chiquita comes amid signs that homebound audiences are listening to less streaming audio while increasing their video consumption. With fewer consumers commuting or going to the gym, Spotify's top 200 streams fell 16% in the U.S. and 12% worldwide from before the crisis, per a Raymond James study cited by Barron's. Spotify hasn't published data about overall streaming usage, and instead announced shifts in listening habits toward news podcasts, health and fitness podcasts, children's content and relaxing "chill" music. The company may provide more information about recent trends when it reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, April 29. In its prior quarterly report, the Spotify said its total monthly active users (MAUs) had grown 31% to 271 million worldwide from a year earlier.